Alberta measles case count surpasses 1986 record as outbreaks span all health zones
Alberta has recorded its highest number of measles cases in nearly four decades, with 868 confirmed infections as of Thursday. The worst year for measles in the province was previously 1986, when 843 cases were recorded.
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According to the province, 29 of the confirmed cases remain active. In Calgary, 18 cases have been reported as of Thursday, including two new cases, while Alberta's South health zone saw five new cases for a total of 606, more than in any other part of the province.
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'This includes cases in individuals with no known exposure source, suggesting under-reporting and a broader potential risk of measles transmission across the region,' AHS said in a news release Thursday.
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AHS has issued a standing measles exposure advisory for the following locations within the North Zone: The hamlet of La Crete, St. Theresa General Hospital in Fort Vermilion and Northwest Health Centre in High Level.
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Children and youth most affected
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The outbreak continues to disproportionately affect children and youth in Alberta. Of the 868 cases to date, 247 are in children under the age of five, and another 403 are in children and youth aged five to 17. Most of those infected are unvaccinated, according to the province.
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Infectious disease specialist Craig Jenne emphasized children are especially vulnerable to developing serious complications from the virus.
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'The disease is generally more severe in the youngest Albertans,' Jenne said. 'We have had a number of pediatric patients in ICU. The virus hits them a little harder, but also, when we're looking at who's not vaccinated in the province, that skews quite heavily to the younger Albertans.'
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Five people are currently hospitalized in Alberta with measles, including one in intensive care.
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Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a blotchy red rash that typically appears three to seven days after the fever begins.
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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith seen in Calgary on Friday, May 16, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh) Danielle Smith defended her government's decision to charge many Albertans for COVID-19 vaccinations, which the province announced late Friday afternoon in a media release. On her Saturday radio show Your Province, Your Premier, Smith said there's too many wasted and unused vaccines due to low demand. 'The sad part was that we threw away over one million doses (in 2023-24) because people just don't want to get the vaccine in the same rates as others (vaccines),' she said. Smith said the delivery system that was used for COVID vaccines at pharmacies created too many wasted doses. 'They were putting it in packs of 10, so if you opened it up and gave one shot, you had to throw the rest out after 12 hours because it would expire so that's why we ended up with so much wastage,' Smith said. 'And it's not (an) insignificant (amount of money),' she added. 'It was over $100 million – I think $135 million (worth) of wasted products." When one caller chided her for spending money on other things rather than on the health of Albertans, she pushed back. 'I can tell you we could probably end up eliminating the knee and hip-replacement surgical waitlist with (the) $135 million that got flushed down the drain last year (with used or spoiled COVID vaccines). 'We're watching what Albertans are doing and what we're seeing is that Albertans increasingly are choosing not to take this vaccine,' she added. Four phases The new vaccine program will roll out in four phases. During the first, only residents in seniors supportive living and home care will be able to get a vaccine for free. The second phase will open provincially-funded COVID-19 vaccines to people with underlying medical conditions or compromised immune systems, people living in congregate living accommodations, people on social programs like AISH or income support or people experiencing homelessness. In the third and fourth phases, all other Albertans starting with those 65 years old or older will be able to purchase a vaccine. 'Cruel' Sarah Hoffman, Alberta NDP shadow minister for health, released a statement calling the decision 'callous' and 'anti-science.' 'It's cruel for the UCP government to put further financial burdens on Albertans who want to protect their health and their loved ones and not get COVID,' Hoffman said in the release. 'If the UCP government was really interested in eliminating waste and protecting the health of Albertans it would be promoting vaccines. That way the supply would get used and we would keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.' Wrong message Lorian Hardcastle, an associate professor at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Law and Cummings School of Medicine, said charging for COVID vaccines sends the wrong message to the public. 'It's problematic that we're switching to a model whereby most Albertans are going to have to pay for the vaccine rather than having it publicly-funded,' Hardcastle said. A container of syringes used to administer Novavax Covid-19 vaccines A container of syringes used to administer Novavax Covid-19 vaccines (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg) 'When we're talking about something that not only has ramifications for an individual, but for the community at large, COVID can affect the immunocompromised, the vulnerable,' she said. 'Of course, people who get COVID end up putting pressure on hospitals and so where individuals are getting vaccinated, not only for their own benefit, but for this public benefit, I think it's particularly imperative that the government pays for that.' She said the government's focus on the cost of wasted vaccines only tells half the story of what COVID can cost a provincial health care system. 'The Alberta government, in talking about the cost of the vaccine, needs to consider not only what they're spending on vaccinating people, but what they then save on the other end, in terms of avoidable hospitalizations, lost productivity -- all of these things, because the vaccine does also have financial benefits because it is preventative.' Cost: TBD Smith said the cost of a COVID vaccine hasn't been determined yet, but won't be as much as the RSV vaccine, which costs $300. One way to reduce costs, she said, will be to administer COVID vaccines at health clinics and not pharmacies. 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'There's too many things we have to pay for in the health-care system and we've got to minimize the amount of wastage that we've got.' With files from CTV's Brittany Ekelund
